[filesystemdude]

I loved SimCity and it's probably among the reasons I got a masters degree in GIS with a focus in city planning.

It turns out for a lot of reasons, real city planning wasn't for me, though it took that degree and six years on my city's planning board to figure that out. Glacial speeds of progress, a job that's mostly reactionary instead of visionary, "stakeholders" with infinite time to tell you why any change is the worst thing in the world and a conspiratorial worldview - no thanks, I'll just go back to my sims.

[TheGRS]

What is the bigger barrier to getting things done - regulations or politics with locals? I grew up learning that regulations were the reason things would take so long, but the older I get the more I realize its just a bunch of really loud NIMBYs.

[gph]

Aren't most the regulations enacted in order to placate the really loud NIMBYs?

[TheGRS]

I don't think so, at least the sort of regulations I'm thinking of: environmental, structural, earthquake protection, etc. I think most of that stuff comes from outside studies and not from residents. But stuff like building height codes or putting wind farms near your city, yes I think that's mostly NIMBYs.

[theoh]

Interesting. I'm guessing you mean "reactive", though, not "reactionary". So it would have been reacting to events rather that projecting and controlling future scenarios.

[filesystemdude]

Yes, good catch. "Reactive instead of proactive" might have been better phrasing.

[rangersanger]

I count myself so lucky that I managed to figure these exact same things out my sr year of college. Got the degree and promptly did not use it. Though I contend it's still the most applicable skill set to product management of any degree.

[throes_death]

How many other degrees do you have?